Catholic School District gets financial breathing room; boasts high testing scores

The Fort McMurray Catholic School District held their board meeting for the month of October. Here are some of the highlights:

1. Their students have done exceptionally well in provincial testing for their students in grades 3 and 6. A few years ago, they put an initiative in place to help boost provincial testing grades. However, there was a drop-off in grades for high school students, which fits with a province-wide trend. It was also noted that language arts and math needs to be improved.

2. Thanks to a reversal of funding cuts from the province, the CSD’s budget deficit for this school year has been reduced from $2.9 million, to $1.1 million. The board hedged their bets for this year when approving the budget, and decided to not make any major cuts. Also, to help contend with their enrollment growth, they needed to hire nine new teachers.

3. They’re also planning for their projected increase in enrollment, based on this year’s numbers. That includes working with the Public School District and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo to develop a parcel of land in Eagle Ridge. So far, the plans involve each school district building an elementary school for their respective Kindergarten to Grade 4 students. The municipality will also fund a community centre in between.